American Legion Fayette County Post 105 has long helped to sponsor Red Ribbon Week at Tyrone Elementary School and this year was no exception. Through the personal contributions of Post member BI Murrell, shown here on the left with students and staff at Tyrone Elementary. This national program has continued to emphasize a strong drug prevention message at this school. On the right is Post 105 Commander Dave Niebes. Photo/Special.

The combined offices of Peachtree City businesses Uniglobe Accent Travel, Inc. and Armstrong Smith Planning Group, LLC all made donations to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation on Tuesday, Oct. 24.

To draw more attention to this special day everyone wore pink and pink refreshments were served. A total of $468 was raised for breast cancer research through the combined efforts of these two offices.

On Oct. 25, Pregnancy Resource Center of Fayette director Luci Hough (r) and volunteer Leah Davis represented the Center at Clayton State University’s Volunteer Fair. Photo/Special.

• Army Pvt. Brittany M. Welch has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C. During the nine weeks of training, the soldier studied the Army mission, history, tradition and core values, physical fitness, and received instruction and practice in basic combat skills, military weapons, chemical warfare and bayonet training, drill and ceremony, marching, rifle marksmanship, armed and unarmed combat, map reading, field tactics, military courtesy, military justice system, basic first aid, foot marches, and field training exercises. She is the daughter of Karen Oot of Peachtree City, Ga. and a 2005 graduate of Starr’s Mill High School, Fayetteville, Ga.

Recently, ten members of the Line Creek Civitan Club (LCCC), based in Peachtree City, had the privilege of traveling to Birmingham, Ala. to visit the world-renowned Civitan International Research Center and the Civitan-Sparks Clinic, located at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The Newnan-Coweta Cadet Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol held an awards ceremony on Oct. 23 at the Newnan-Coweta Airport. There were two dignitaries present, Col. Don Greene and Col. Lyle Letteer. Together they presented many awards that evening. The squadron charter was presented to Capt. Janet Mellard to commemorate the founding of the squadron. Steven Mellard received the Eaker award for his promotion to C/Lt. Col. C/A1C Liza Dye was given the squadron’s Cadet of the Year award, and C/Amn Christian Nininger was awarded his encampment certificate.

Recently the Newnan Kiwanis got a welcome lesson on the proposed Fair Tax system and what it’s going to take to get it implemented. Angela Bean of the Americans for Fair Taxation was welcomed by newly installed Newnan Kiwanis president George Alexander.

At Viewpoint, a cutting edge research and teaching center for dental medicine, Drs. Thomas Balshi and Glenn Wolfinger, Directors of Prosthodontics Intermedica, debuted implant dentistry’s newest and most patient-friendly protocol for healthy smiles, Teeth In An Hour. Nine doctors from across the globe experienced computer generated technology that permits a patient with not a single remaining tooth to have a fully functional and esthetic third set of teeth in less than an hour.

McIntosh Trail Historic Preservation Society held a spaghetti dinner on Oct. 14 at the Senoia Area Historic Society's headquarters on couch Street. Land lot maps from 1827 were on display relating to the McIntosh Trail.

On a mission to help fight hunger and poverty

Sophia Dayani is on a mission. It is a personal mission that involves many of the world’s poorest people. It involves taking the steps needed to help provide them with some of life’s basic necessities. It is a mission eagerly engaged by this Sandy Creek High School sophomore.

A change in venue did not impair the fun or the success of the American Cancer Society’s Fourth Annual Barons’ Ball that was held at the Wyndham Peachtree City Conference Center on Saturday, Nov. 4. 

According to Tom Beckham, President of the Kiwanis Club of Peachtree City, sponsorship of the D.A.R.E. Program in Peachtree City's elementary schools is one of the most important and rewarding community service projects undertaken by the club.  The DARE Program (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is conducted by specially trained officers of the Peachtree City Police Department in six area elementary schools.

The Rotary Club of Fayetteville annually presents awards to individuals in the community who excel in their commitment to their job and to the health, safety and welfare of their community by diligently providing a public service beyond their normal duties.

Fayette Senior Services is accepting contributions for Project Love – the program that provides delicious and nutritionally balanced holiday meals to senior citizens in Fayette County. For more then ten years the program has been a heartfelt gesture of kindness to many of the community’s homebound seniors.

The Peachtree City Chapter, Order of DeMolay undertook its first community service project on Oct. 20 by preparing box lunches and distributing them to homeless individuals in downtown Atlanta. The food was purchased by the boys and the containers were donated by the Waffle House on Ga. Highway 54 in Peachtree City.

Cooper Industries presented a check for $10,000 to Susan Osborne, chairperson of the fourth annual Barons' Ball for the American Cancer Society - Fayette County. The generous donation designates Cooper Industries as an Emerald sponsor for the event which was held Nov. 4 at the Wyndham Peachtree Conference Center in Peachtree City.

Georgia Farm Bureau will award four $1,500 scholarships to high school seniors this winter, Neil Milam, South Fulton County Farm Bureau president, recently announced. Students are eligible to submit an application if they, a parent or a legal guardian were a member of Georgia Farm Bureau as of April 1, 2006. The scholarships are sponsored each year by the Georgia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company in cooperation with the Georgia Farm Bureau Women’s Committee.

Local Cub Scout Pack 172 and Boy Scout Troop 172 recently relived a part of history when they participated in the overnight camping program Oct. 20-22 aboard the World War II Aircraft Carrier USS Yorktown located on Charleston Harbor. The overnight campers became shipmates with other youngsters as they all toured the USS Yorktown, World War II Submarine Clamagore, World War II Destroyer Laffey and World War II Coast Guard Cutter Ingham.

Girl Scouts of Pine Valley Council, Service Unit 619 of Fayetteville hosted their first annual Project Linus blanket making event on Saturday, Oct.

Fayette County Master Gardener Volunteers will conduct classes for the Junior Master Gardener 4-H Program developed by Texas A&M University. This program is open to current third, fourth and fifth graders and will meet from 4 to 6 p.m. two Thursdays each month.

Bring in a gently used coats or jackets to bella boutique, ltd. in Peachtree City during the month of November and receive 10% off your entire purchase.

Chewing their way to fame

There must be something intoxicating about the annual Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest because not only does the audience grow every year, both at the event and watching from home, but it inspires many people to take up the fork and give the sport of competitive eating a try. Two local men, Larry “The Legend” McNeil and Loren “Bubba” Yarbrough, both graduates of McIntosh High School (Mcneil graduated in 1989 and Yarbrough graduated in 1991) and current Newnan residents, were among those inspired by the spectacle, so much so that they entered a qualifying event for the contest at Zoo Atlanta the following year. Though neither won, Yarbrough did better than McNeil, the two were hooked and have continued to participate in International Federation of Competitive Eating events.

The power of purple took over Capitol Hill on Sept. 20. Ten thousand volunteers, cancer survivors and supporters, all very passionate about finding a cure for this devastating disease, went to Washington D.C. with one purpose: to be heard. Congress listened and they heard.
 
Ambassadors had over 500 meetings with members of Congress in which 310 members signed the Congressional Cancer Promise.

Oak Grove was one of 26 schools statewide to be awarded the 2006 Platinum Award by the State of Georgia Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. This award was given to schools that obtained the greatest gains in meeting and exceeding standards on last spring’s CRCT tests. Principal Bonnie Hancock attributes this success to the staff’s ability to work as a team to achieve a common goal, to students who take their studies seriously and to parents who support their children academically, emotionally, and socially.

In a ceremony at Peachtree City United Methodist Church on Oct. 1, Andrew M. Spears was awarded the Eagle Scout Rank. Spears refurbished an outdoor classroom at Braelinn Elementary for his Eagle Scout project. He is a freshman at Starr's Mill High School and has been a member of Troop 175 for four years.  Spears is the son of Scott and Cathy Spears of Peachtree City. Pictured with Spears is his Scout Master Danny McCranie. Photo/Special.

Dejah Morrow, a seventh-grade life science teacher at Fayette Middle School, was among 15 of Georgia’s best and brightest new teachers who received a New Teacher Assistance Grant from Georgia Power. Mike Garrett, Georgia Power’s president and CEO, awarded each teacher a $1,000 grant during a recent awards luncheon at the company’s Atlanta headquarters.

Lance Corporal Adam Connatser, United States Marine Corp, a finance/budget specialist assigned to Marine Wing Support Group – 27, Cherry Point, N.C., was recently deployed to Djibouti, Africa for a seven-month assignment.

Djibouti is a tiny country on the Horn of Africa bordering Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and the Red Sea. Camp Lemonier is a United States Navy Base situated in Djibouti and is home to Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) of the United States Central Command.

McIntosh High School principal Tracie Fleming and the executive officers of the McIntosh Parent Teacher Student Organization (PTSO) welcomed Superintendent Dr. John DeCotis and Assistant Superintendent for Operations Sam Sweat on Wednesday, Oct. 11 to the annual Fayette County PTO Leadership Symposium.

Shirley Wiseman, visiting from from Maryville, Tenn., Janet Allen, from Newnan, and Marilyn Longino, from Fayetteville, recently learned the heaven-man-earth concept for designing a flower arrangement in Julie Woolbridge's Ikebana class at the Fayette Art Center.

Alisa McAleer, owner of the Cookies by Design in Tyrone, and employee Erin Baker present specially decorated cookies to Fayette County firefighters during their visit to Royal Learners Day Care Center, Tyrone on Wednesday, Oct.